Novel Health Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice Program: Strategy and Implementation

This book describes a novel health interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPECP) program established at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The book has three main sections. The first section introduces interprofessional education's background, theory, and context for collaborative practice. This section elaborates on defining and developing centers of excellence in IPECP, defining and exploring the meaning of interprofessional collaborative practice in contemporary health care, theories of the team working relevant to health and social care systems, and learning in and about interprofessional groups and broader collaboration. The second section explains how to formulate and implement strategies for effective IPECP. It involves developing and implementing a novel health IPECP curriculum, governance, IPECP's impact and implications on health care outcomes, IPE accreditation standards, regulatory policies, and legal structures. The third section describes the result of a case study of an IPECP program established at KSU. This program is developed by the vice-rectorship for health specialties at KSU (VRHS-KSU) in collaboration with partners harvard medical international (PHMI) to enhance health professional education further through interprofessional education and collaboration. For that purpose, a strategic plan is developed to develop learning, teaching, and assessment in all health sciences colleges (HSCs), along with a governance structure to establish a joint "center of excellence in interprofessional education and collaborative practice (CoE-IPECP)". The strategic plan and design of the program summarized in this book were accomplished through several meetings, workshops, and courses conducted at KSU in Riyadh, and harvard macy institute (HMI) in Boston, USA. The toolkit for successful program implementation includes a pro forma business plan, implementation groups' training, matching needs with feasibility, and expected impact on HSCs. Initiation of pilot projects started with implementing some interprofessional courses, establishing an initial physical and IT infrastructure of the center, developing the webpage, newsletter, and listservs, and improving faculty development programs to enhance IPECP at HSCs. Also, this book is a helpful road map for other national and international universities and institutes aiming to develop their professional health education, particularly interprofessional education and collaborative practice. 

Mohammed Alnaami is currently a professor of surgery and medical education at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He works as a consultant general and bariatric surgeon, and a board member of the Saudi Society of Medical Education (SSME). A  graduate fellow in interprofessional education leadership certified by Manipal University and the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER). Mohammed is interested in teaching and training undergraduate and postgraduate health professional students, residents, and fellows. He is heavily involved in health professional education development activities. Mohammed has published more than forty articles and three books in surgery and medical education research.

Dalal Alqahtani is an assistant professor in oral pathology in the department of oral medicine and  diagnostic sciences at the college of dentistry, King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Besides teaching oral pathology to undergraduate and postgraduate students, she practices oral pathology, and she is the Head of the Oral Histopathology Laboratory at a dental university hospital. She is involved in the curriculum reform project of the undergraduate dental curriculum at KSU, as she is directing the project. She has received awards and grants in education, giving lectures and workshops in medical education, and published several papers.

Eiad Alfaris is a professor of family medicine and medical education. He has been a family medicine consultant and member of the Royal College of General Practitioners (London) since 1989. He is the supervisor of the King Saud University (KSU) chair for medical education and development. He had completed a Master's degree in Medical Education (MMed) from the University of Dundee, UK. He has contributed substantially to the development of medical education in Saudi Arabia and has published around sixty-five articles in national and international journals. His main research areas are health professionals' students' well-being, psychiatric disorders in family medicine, learning environment, and epidemiological studies on different health issues. He has run various workshops for the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, KSU health schools, and national and international symposia.

Hamzah Abdulghani is a medical education and family medicine professor, and the head of the assessment & evaluation centre, college of medicine, KSU. He has organized and conducted many faculty development workshops in medical colleges at the national and international levels. He is an invited speaker for many national and international conferences and scientific gatherings, consultations, and workshops focused on clinical teaching and learning, feedback skills, and different types of assessment. He is in the editorial boards of manypeer-reviewed journals. He has published extensively in reputable peer-reviewed journals in medical education and family medicine.

Ciraj Ali  Mohammed is currently a professor and head of medical education at the college of medicine and health sciences, National University, Oman. He is a fellow and global faculty of the Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) Institute, Philadelphia, USA. He is a fulbright visiting scholar at the department of molecular biology and Infectious diseases. A recipient of the international fellowship in medical education (IFME), Florida International University, Miami, USA. He has authored articles and chapters in medical education and microbiology and served on the editorial board of many journals. Ciraj is the director of the MAHE-FAIMER fellowship program that focuses on leadership in interprofessional education organized in collaboration with FAIMER. He iscurrently the secretary of the Academy of Health Professions Educators, India. Chair of the Indian interprofessional education network (IndiPEN), and a member of the global confederation for interprofessional education and collaborative practice. Ciraj also serves on the Network's Advisory Board – Towards Unity for Health.